Creatures of Hope
by anondracomalfoy
Summary: Voldemort might have won control over the Wizarding World, but Draco Malfoy's got a war of his own raging on...one that, most unfortunately, includes Hermione Granger. And she's ready to raise hell. A Dramione war AU with a dark plot and mature themes.


**_Creatures of Hope_**

**Prologue**

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**February 21st, 2005**

- From the desk of Draco Malfoy -

_To Whom It May Concern,_

_I know nothing about heroism, nor the art of verbal eloquence. Not that I'm particularly bothered by either one, of course—I am, after all, a Malfoy, and therefore care little about trivial Gryffindor matters. Either way, the foundation and staples of my character matter very little in the scheme of this entire letter. _

_A very particular request has been made to me via the authoritative powers residing directly over me, and with a great deal of reasoning and coaxing from someone very close to me, I have agreed to share my memories with the Wizarding World. For documentation purposes and historical accuracy, of course; though I can't deny that many of my memories and recollections over the past half a decade or so are anything but bright, cheerful, and appropriate for any sort of textbook or publishing agency. There is a certain grittiness about my life—something considered both vulgar and obscene (scandalous, really, for the Heir of a once noble and elite Pureblood fortune)._

_I cannot, under any circumstances, guarantee that my memories will be pure of heart, body, and mind. On the contrary, they are anything but—I am a Slytherin, through and through; cunning, ambitious, and willing to risk whatever it takes to achieve victory. Perhaps many will find that their preconceived notions of me are true; maybe not. Either way, I've stopped caring about the ridiculous opinions of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors everywhere—they matter very little to me now. I have seen and experienced far too much to allow idle gossip to bother me._

_This is not a love story—no matter what the Daily Prophet may say. My life is not, and has never been, consumed by the idea of romance. And while many things have changed in the past five or so years, I must urge an air of caution to anyone reading these documents and poking through my Pensive memories under the frivolous notion that I'm a closet romantic: my story is about more than love. It is about life. It's about losing my humanity; about gaining faith in the most unlikely places. It's about losing my head and grip with society—it's about agony and pain and death. About war and chaos and corruption so severe it could slice you right in half._

_It's about a level of equality in humanity, and how I gained the redemption I so long sought for…without even knowing it._

_It's no longer just my story, but ours. Hers and mine._

_And this is how it begins__._

_Cordially,_

_Draco Malfoy_

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**a/N:** Hello, everyone! As some of you may already know, I've been planning my next multi-chapter fic for quite some time now. I had wanted to publish the prologue for quite some time, seeing as how _Shades of Grey_ is nearly complete, but didn't know when the right time would be. And now, with only a few chapter left in Shades of Grey, I figured it would be beneficial to upload this prologue as a bit of a teaser trailer for my next fic:_ Creatures of Hope_ (I did something similar with_ Shades of Grey_ when I first began publishing chapters). But first, I want to make sure something was made clear about this story: I want to make sure everyone knows that, despite the fact that this prologue is written in epistolary style, the story itself will follow my usual guidelines of writing multi-chapter stories: it will be written in third person limited POV and will transition back and forth between Draco and Hermione's POV. If you'd like, you can go ahead and think of the following chapters as a look into their memories-like gazing through a Pensive, so to speak. I've got a very heavy plot planned out for this story, and I hope you all like what I've got in store! So read, review, favorite, and follow-please, it means the world to me!


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